For Folk's Sake » Broadcast 2000

Brian’s Mixtape #41: Pick of the Schmercuries 2010

Lynn Roberts — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:22:58 +0000

This weekend we launched our Schmercury Poll – FFS’s best album award, in which we’re asking you to vote for your favourite of 12 albums released in the past year. While the FFS editors were tearing our hair out, trying to whittle down the huge pile of wonderful albums released this year to our favourite 12 being forced to discard dearly-loved works of art to get down to the requisite dozen, Brian was sitting back, tapping the armrests with the tips of his wings, and biding his time.

Then when we announced the list, he took a quick glance over it, scribbled down 12 tracks with an air of nonchalance that was frankly a little irritating to the frazzled of nerve, and handed over this list with a wryly arched eyebrow.

As much as we hate to admit it, Brian is right to be smug. We think this might be his best playlist ever. The swine.

Listen on Spotify: Brian’s Mixtape #41: Pick of the Schmercuries 2010

Caitlin Rose – For The Rabbits
Field Music – Them That Do Nothing
Laura Marling – Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)
Noah And The Whale – Love Of An Orchestra
Broadcast 2000 – Your Own Worst Enemy
Peggy Sue – Watchman
Midlake – Acts Of Man
Anais Mitchell – Way Down Hadestown
Cocos Lovers – Time To Stand
Mountain Man – Dog Song
Sea Of Bees – Wizbot
Local Natives – World News

Spotify is now freeeee. You can download it here for access to tons and tons of music. As the name suggests Brian has put together rather more playlists than just this, with themes to suit your every mood. Pop over to our mixtapes section to discover them all.

Schmercury Awards 2010: Shortlist announced

Lynn Roberts — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 15:13:37 +0000

Not one to be left out of all this Mercury spoofing, FFS is delighted to announce this year’s Schmercury Awards shortlist. We had such a hard time whittling all the fantastic albums released this year down to just 12 that we had to have a sit down with some tea and Belle & Sebastian to calm our nerves. However, it is done, and here – in alphabetical order – are our finalists.

Broadcast 2000 – Broadcast 2000
Gemma Hampson said: “This album is a hit waiting in the wings. It’s eclectic enough to be accepted by some of the alt-folk fanatics, different enough to be listened to by those dipping a toe into the more avant-garde acoustic and commercial enough to be played all over every radio station and snapped up by the masses.”
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Review)

Caitlin Rose – Own Side Now
Helen True said: “Caitlin Rose is a young, fresh, twenty-something who knows her way around country music backwards and upside-down. There’s nothing remotely cheesy or outdated about her lyrics, and yet they fit beautifully over what is undeniably very traditional country music. She writes witty words packed with verve and intelligence, all set alight when she sings with the most gorgeous Tennessee drawl.
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Review)

Cocos Lovers – Johannes
Alice Knapp said: “Kentish folk stalwarts Cocos Lovers’ latest album, Johannes, captures all the beauty of their live singing. The clear-toned guitars, flickering mandolin and chorus vocals are filled with British tradition. At the same time, other worldwide musical references can be heard in the use of upbeats, hand drums, accordions and operatic vocal cords.”
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Review)

Field Music – Measure
Liane Escorza said: “A kaleidoscope of textures and a versatile canvas of sounds… it opens up shyly, gets confident and alert on its own toes and then bursts into wings of indulgence… a brilliant surge of compelling music and a jungle of brilliant surprises.”
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Review)

Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
Lynn Roberts said: “Mixing Beach Boys’ sunny Californian harmonies and Simon & Garfunkel’s syncopated rhythms with a raucous, upbeat and infectious dollup of youthful energy, Local Natives’ soaring vocals and everyday, truthful lyrics make Gorilla Manor a true delight… and what’s more, one you can dance to.”
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Interview)

Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Lynn Roberts said: “The most surprising aspect of I Speak Because I Can is just how robust the once painfully shy Laura now sounds. With rousingly primal tracks like opener Devil’s Spoke, she has extended her repertoire from the meeker sounds of Alas I Cannot Swim. In fact, this LP is in danger of totally overshadowing her Mercury-nominated debut.”
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Review)

Midlake – The Courage of Others
Stephen Thomas said: “Present on Courage is the sort of sweeping majesty that was a staple ingredient of the folk scene in the early seventies. With this album Midlake have realised their position in the world, and in the music industry – and it’s right at the top of the pile.”
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Review)

Anais Mitchell – Hadestown
Lynn Roberts said: “It’s been all I could do to tear myself away from Anais Mitchell’s concept album/folk opera Hadestown. A modern retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, it features guest vocals from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Ben Knox Milller from the Low Anthem as well as Greg Brown and Ani DeFranco. It’s definitely one of the best things I’ve heard all year.”
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Review)

Mountain Man – Made the Harbor
Ali Mason said: “Bluegrass-tinged folk songs bringing to mind the vast sweeping landscapes of the United States, from the New England hills through the Rockies and the Deep South and beyond, as they sing about buffalos and herons and rivers and bees. What marks it out more than the complex, three-part harmonies which flit so gracefully on the air is the sense of stillness and calm which pervades. A perfectly-formed work of understated joy.”
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Review)

Noah & the Whale – The First Days of Spring
Lois Jeary said: “A lifetime of heartbreak away from the whistling and clapping of their twee-folk debut, the album is Charlie Fink’s brutal confession on the state of his heart following his relationship with Laura Marling. But with the imagery of approaching “blue skies” recurring throughout, the lingering impression left by this beautiful album is not of desolation, but of the broken heart’s cautious optimism at the freedom to pursue new possibilities and loves.”
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Review)

Peggy Sue – Fossils & Other Phantoms
Mary Machin said: “Peggy Sue have concocted a heady mixture of blues, rock and doo-wap with their debut. Fossils is a flawlessly contained world all of its own. Its remarkable coherance makes it a body of work to be cherished for years to come.”
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Review)

Sea of Bees – Songs for the Ravens
Nikki Dodds said: “This sweet and complex record presents a hybrid of tunes all tied together via the lazy warmth of Baenziger’s voice. It is interesting and moreish as you witness the tracks tumble between dark and light.”
(Spotify, MySpace, FFS Review)

Like last year — when The Leisure Society’s debut album The Sleeper won the first FFS Schmercury Poll after a battle with Camera Obscura’s My Maudlin Career — we’ve refused to be constrained by geography as the Mercury Prize is, and so this list features our favourite records from around the world.

Have yourselves a listen, and then vote for your pick of the bunch below (you can vote once a day, if you’re keen). But whichever wins, know that we recommend all of these records very highly indeed and urge you to seek out the ones you haven’t heard. Because there’re few things nicer than discovering another brilliant album.

5 things: Mountain Man, Laura Marling, Anais Mitchell, Broadcast 2000

Lynn Roberts — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 09:52:35 +0000

Fresh out of journalism school, I started FFS so I’d be able to write about the music I loved. Two years on I’m managing the site more and more and barely getting time to put pen to paper. But so much brilliant stuff comes my way it’d be criminal not to pass it on to you readers, so I’m planning to blog weekly (frequency subject to change at my whim) about the best of it. Here’s what’s been brilliant over the past few weeks…

1. Hadestown
For the past couple of months it’s been all I could do to tear myself away from Anais Mitchell’s concept album/folk opera Hadestown, released this year. I hate to come over all Jo-Wiley-talking-about-U2, but it really is a stunning modern retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice. It features guest vocals from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Ben Knox Milller from the Low Anthem as well as Greg Brown and Ani DeFranco. It’s definitely the best thing I’ve heard all year. Hear on Myspace or Spotify. Buy from Amazon.

2. Best bits playlist
Reminded by the brilliant new album from Canadian supergroup Stars, I realised that the first words sung by Amy Millan on their 2004 album Set Yourself on Fire, is probably my favourite bit of a pop song, ever. Following Torquil Campbell’s scene setting, Millan comes in with ‘This scar is a fleck on my porcelain skin’. It’s goosebumps central. We asked for your best bits suggestions on twitter and compiled this: our best bits playlist.

3. Laura Marling debuts new material
Here’s a brand spanking new Laura Marling song, Who Am I?, which she performed when she was in Texas last month. It’s making us pretty excited for album number three, due later this year.

4. Mountain Man
This three piece from Vermont have beat me to my secret ambition to start a folk madrigal choir. Their swoony three-piece harmonies and sparse or acapella arrangements are just lovely. Have a listen on Myspace and Spotify or buy their album on Amazon.

5. Bandstand Busking at Meltdown
Thomas, Ian and Anika from Bandstand Busking organised two fantastic free gigs at The Royal Festival Hall as part of Richard Thompson’s Meltdown festival. The first featured Laura Hocking and Sam Amidon and for the second they lined up Johnny Flynn, Broadcast 2000 and Slow Club. Performance of the afternoon went to Broadcast 2000 — sandwiched between Johnny and Slow Club — whose full-band set up is not to be missed. Live, the already=brilliant songs take on a life of their own, becoming almost performance art with the elegant bowing of the three string players contrasting with furious drumming and glock-bashing from the rhythm section.

Stage times for Sunday’s Bandstand Busking with Slow Club, Johnny Flynn and Broadcast 2000 revealed

Lynn Roberts — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:57:21 +0000

Slow Club

Bandstand Busking have announced the stage times for the second of their two appearances at Richard Thompson’s Meltdown festival.

The free gig takes place in the Clore Ballroom in the Royal Festival Hall this Sunday, with an incredibly FFS-friendly line-up which includes Slow Club, Johnny Flynn and Broadcast 2000.

Last week’s gig featured Laura Hocking, Sam Amidon and Oh Ruin, and a special guest appearance from Beth Orton. See Anika’s pictures of the event here.

No tickets are needed but the Facebook event suggests quite a lot of people will be there, so arrive early to bag a seat.

Approximate stage times are as follows:

1pm Crystal Palace Brass Band
2.15pm Appalachian Storm
3.15pm Kate Tempest
4pm John Smith
4.45pm Johnny Flynn
5.30pm Broadcast 2000
6.15pm Slow Club

See you there!

Free Bandstand Busking stage at Meltdown festival: Johnny Flynn, Slow Club, Broadcast 2000, Laura Hocking

Lynn Roberts — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:59:15 +0000

Laura Hocking

The ever wonderful Bandstand Busking have announced they are to curate two free shows at Richard Thompson’s Meltdown festival this month.

The first gig, which takes places this Sunday (13th June) from 1-7pm, features Sam Amidon and Laura Hocking – who FFS has been unable to stop listening to of late – as well as Oh Ruin, Trans Siberian March Band, Belles of London City and Soname.

And it only gets more exciting next week as FFS stalwarts Slow Club, Broadcast 2000 and Johnny Flynn take to the stage along with John Smith, Kate Tempest, Appalachian Storm and the Crystal Palace Brass Band.

Both shows take place at the specially-constructed Clore Ballroom Bandstand at the Royal Festival Hall, London.

The chaps at Bandstand Busking said: “We were pretty pleased to hear that we’d be able to put together the lineup for two Sunday’s in June – the 13th and the 20th. Richard did ask us to mix in a bit of variety in to our lineups – and we took this as an exciting opportunity to bring something a bit different to the bandstand busking stage alongside some of the best examples of our usual folksy leanings.”

Find more information about the Bandstand Busking freestage on the Meltdown Website

The Folk Artist Twitter Directory

Stephen W Thomas — Thu, 06 May 2010 08:30:09 +0000

Below is our attempt at a comprehensive directory of folk artists currently on Twitter – of course, we aren’t Twitter deities and as such will almost certainly have missed out on certain artists. Let us know if you can think of any tweeting folk musicians in the comments below.

Akron/Family

Angus and Julia Stone

Asthmatic Kitty (Label)

Brian: FFS’s Mixtape-Making Owl

Broadcast 2000

Caitlin Rose

Cherbourg

Colin Meloy (Decemberists)

Damien Rice (PR Account)

Dev Hynes (Lightspeed Champion)

Divine Comedy (PR account)

Efterklang

Emmy the Great

Fanfarlo

FFS (Official Account)

Kurran & the Wolfnotes

Laura Marling (PR account)

Lisa Hannigan (PR account)

Lisa Mitchell

Lissie

The Living Sisters (PR account)

Local Natives

The Low Anthem

Midlake

Monsters of Folk (PR account)

The New Pornographers

Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy)

Peggy Sue

Rebecca Taylor (Slow Club)

Rufus Wainwright (PR account)

She & Him (PR account)

St. Vincent

Sweet Billy Pilgrim

The Swell Season (PR account)

The Swell Season (Glen Hansard)

Broadcast 2000 to play Wilton’s Music Hall, records 6music session

Ian Parker — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:34:32 +0000

Broadcast 2000 have announced plans for a very special gig at Wilton’s Music Hall in East London.

The venue, which is over 150 years old and described by its operators as “old and crumbling”, is set to provide a unique backdrop as Broadcast 2000 celebrate their homecoming from a tour of Germany on May 25th.

“Wilton’s is the world’s oldest and last surviving grand music hall, and we feel very privileged to have been given the go ahead for this very special event!” said Broadcast 2000s songwriter and frontman Joe Steer.

Broadcast 2000 will have a full band and string section to show off their debut album in all its glory.

They have also announced several support acts for the show. Spain’s Jorge Ramirez-Escudero — also known as Hyperpotamus — who uses four microphones for just the voice in a unique live act, will open things up. Matthew & The Atlas, who are promoting their ‘To The North’ EP, will follow, ahead of Matt Corby, a former contestant on Australia’s version of Pop Idol, who recently featured on the Communion compilation of rising folk artists.

Tickets for the show are available through Platforms Live.

Broadcast 2000 also did a nifty little session with Marc Riley for BBC 6Music yesterday. It can still be heard on iplayer here, specifically at 0:00.15 – Get Up And Go, 0:47.30 – Rouse Your Bones and 1:15.00 – All Is Said And Done.

Links:
Broadcast 2000 MySpace
Matt Corby MySpace
Matthew and the Atlas MySpace
Jorge Ramirez-Escudero MySpace
Wiltons Music Hall website

Additional reporting by Angeline Liles.

Album: Communion Compilation

Lynn Roberts — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:47:59 +0000

Look, the clue is in the name – this offering from the burgeoning club night established by Ben Lovett (Mumford & Sons) and Kevin Jones (Cherbourg) is a bringing together of musical souls and a testament to the talent that thrills through the British folk scene and makes it the beautiful thing we all love and admire

And yet for all the talk of a community, perhaps then the most surprising thing about this album is the sheer diversity on offer. Johnny Flynn opens the album in a traditional vein that continues all the way through the hand claps of ‘Zion’ by William Stokes to Pete Roe’s comforting, worldly voice on ‘Bellina’. But then of course there is Jay Jay Pistolet, a relic from the age of the wireless and the Wurlitzer, with his delightful homage to Cole Porter, ‘Vintage Red’. ‘Sister’, modestly hidden away in the middle of the album, is yet another triumph from Mumford & Sons – the hum of the organ and choir of harmony behind moralising lyrics creating a feeling of reverence perfectly fitting for an album entitled Communion. ‘Hands in the Sink’ is the pure sweet symbolism you expect from Alessi’s Ark, and Elena Tonra, speaking bluntly for every girl with a crush on Peter Pan, along with Beans on Toast, bring an Antifolk feel to proceedings. And as if all that wasn’t enough, Peggy Sue and Broadcast 2000 amongst others depart further from folk tradition with wonky beats and disconcerting sounds thrashed out on an acoustic guitar.

Time was when you had to look far westwards, to Nevada City perhaps, to behold such a collective of talented individuals united by music and geography and creating something distinct and special. Now – and this is not without considerable thanks to nurturing nights such as Communion or generous artists like Laura Marling who use their own star appeal to shine a light on their friends’ talents – we don’t have to venture beyond our fair shores to discover something new and exciting. It’s all here, just waiting to be discovered.

Words: Lois Jeary

Communion tracklisting:

Johnny Flynn – ‘In The Honour Of Industry’
Jay Jay Pistolet – ‘Vintage Red’
Marcus Foster – ‘Circle In A Square’
William Stokes Feat. Marcus Mumford – ‘Zion’
Pete Roe – ‘Bellina’
Broadcast 2000 – ‘That Sinking Feeling’
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – ‘More Than Letters
Jeremy Warmsley – ‘How We Became
Brendan Campbell – ‘Maudlin Reverie’
Alessi’s Ark – ‘Hands In The Sink
Mumford And Sons – ‘Sister’
Matthew And The Atlas – ‘Deadwood’
Alan Pownall – ‘Take Me’
Elena Tonra – ‘Peter’
Beans On Toast – ‘Things To Do Before You’re Thirty’
Kurran And The Wolfnotes – ‘Pounding’
Peggy Sue – ‘February Snow’
Andrew Davie – ‘Lie Down In The Blood’
Rachel Sermanni – ‘My Friend Fire’
Jesse Quin And The Mets – ‘The Sculptor And The Stone’
Matt Corby – ‘Light Home’

Album: Broadcast 2000

Lynn Roberts — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:02:38 +0000

Broadcast 2000 is a fitting name for this London-based indie-folk what not. Although it’s the first full-length album from the group, it will most definitely not be the first time you have heard them. Even without the discovery of their 2008-released EP ‘Building Blocks’, their sound is getting around. A film here (Yes Man), a soap there (Hollyoaks), even an ad blasted into every front room in the land.

While selling songs is sometimes seen as selling out, this group should be applauded… loudly. The first EP was merely recorded in frontman Joe Steer’s flat, but it has propelled him and his band nationwide, if not further.

A bit of help from Kaiser Chief/Bloc Party producer Eliot James and Noah & the Whale’s Tom Hobden on violin makes this album a hit waiting in the wings. It’s eclectic enough to be accepted by some of the alt-folk fanatics, different enough to be listened to by those dipping a toe into the more avant-garde acoustic and commercial enough to be played all over every radio station and snapped up by the masses. It’s pure pop, leaping into the scene after Noah & the Whale, Andrew Bird and Final Fantasy/Owen Pallett with a cello and fiddle foundation akin to a very English Vampire Weekend.

Steer, who says he never wanted to be the main singer, has a lovely, soothing voice with a huge range, often double tracked or forming the middle of a complex two- or three-part harmony. Its strings, rich harmonies, closely-recorded vocals and chiming xylophone make for a massive sound from delicate and sweet songs. All credit to the producer, although on occasions it’s a little too slick, verging into the cringing 70s melt mess of The Feeling. It’s a fine line. It doesn’t help that Steer’s pronunciation occasionally teeters on the edge of the glottal trend and over exaggerated English-isms of yesteryear, like ‘Allo ‘Allo’s ‘good moaning’ policeman. Just speak normally Goddamn.

On first listen, Get Up and Go stands out like a sore thumb. But once you realise that it’s the jingly jangly tune for the EON ad, you quickly pass it by. The real gems are The Outsider Steps In, the string-heavy but slightly musical-esque Don’t Weigh Me Down and Your Own Worst Enemy, with a chunky cello sounding like a snorting and oinking saddleback writhing around in a muddy puddle. I Hold My Breath also sticks around in the old head, but I think it’s more because the chorus is weirdly reminiscent of Lady Gaga’s Disco Stick. Sing along!

If you like something a little rawer, best steer clear and go back to your James Yorkston records, but this could be the perfect mossy rock for those stepping over from the more mainstream.

Words: Gemma Hampson

Communion to release compilation album featuring Mumford & Sons, Alessi + Australian show

Lynn Roberts — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 11:13:56 +0000

Communion, the London, Leeds and Brighton clubnight run by Ben Lovett of Mumford and Sons and Kev Jones, formerly of Cherbourg, will be releasing a 21-track compilation CD featuring Mumford and Sons, Johnny Flynn, Broadcast 2000, Alessi’s Ark and Jay Jay Pistolet.

The album will be released on 1st March on limited edition double gatefold vinyl as well as download. You can reserve your vinyl copy on the Communion website now.

As well as the more established artists, it features tracks from the lesser-known members of the folk community such as Laura Marling pianist Pete Roe, newcomer Benjamin Francis Leftwich and big-in-the-States Marcus Foster.

Kev Jones said: “What’s fascinating is you can hear the influence of artists such as Laura Marling, Noah And The Whale and Mumford and Sons filtering down into the newer artists and also cross-referencing each other along the way.”

Communion is held at Notting Hill Arts Club, London, The Adelphi, Leeds and The Albert, Brighton. While Ben is in Australia with Mumford and Sons and Laura Marling, they will be putting on Communion’s first ever antipodean event in Sydney on 27th Jan. For more details and upcoming shows, checkout the Communion MySpace.

Tracklisting:
Johnny Flynn – ‘In The Honour Of Industry’
Jay Jay Pistolet – ‘Vintage Red’
Marcus Foster – ‘Circle In A Square’
William Stokes Feat. Marcus Mumford – ‘Zion’
Pete Roe – ‘Bellina’
Broadcast 2000 – ‘That Sinking Feeling’
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – ‘More Than Letters
Jeremy Warmsley – ‘How We Became
Brendan Campbell – ‘Maudlin Reverie’
Alessi’s Ark – ‘Hands In The Sink
Mumford And Sons – ‘Sister’
Matthew And The Atlas – ‘Deadwood’
Alan Pownall – ‘Take Me’
Elena Tonra – ‘Peter’
Beans On Toast – ‘Things To Do Before You’re Thirty’
Kurran And The Wolfnotes – ‘Pounding’
Peggy Sue – ‘February Snow’
Andrew Davie – ‘Lie Down In The Blood’
Rachel Sermanni – ‘My Friend Fire’
Jesse Quin And The Mets – ‘The Sculptor And The Stone’
Matt Corby – ‘Light Home’

Words: Lynn Roberts

For Folk's Sake » Broadcast 2000

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